Centurylink Qwest Customer service is a joke and forget about truthful people! Internet, Internet

In your own words from your original post:

I acknowledge that I owe the balance, and paying it is not a problem. The issue is that I wanted to make a payment arrangement for two weeks after the due date because I simply did not have the funds in my account.

Your later post kind of changes the way you view "overdraft" 

It's curious at a minimum.   You will catch more flies with honey that's for sure, and frankly, again, it's very easy to just slam a company on a website where that company can not defend itself.

I happen to work in telecom, but not in customer service, was just glancing through some posts, and I will respond to some that seem ironic.

Good luck to you and to CTL, you changing would probably be a good thing for both parties!!

"To be perfectly honest, I would rather have problems with my connection and wonderful people than very few problems and absolute jerks who refuse to even acknowledge the issue or apologize when one occurs."  

If you REALLY mean this, sign up for HughesNet.  You'll see (within hours) what connection problems are.

O-o-o-p-s they also have SUPER BAD customer service and HIGH cancellation fees. My bad.

I've had Century Link's DSL service for years (even when they were Qwest) and have been very happy with the service and support.

Why shoot yourself in the, er foot, if you're happy with it.

You would soon find having daily problems with your connection or speed limiting would be very frustrating.

The problem you noted with the timing of their billing happens a lot with businesses.  They just routinely debit the money when it's historically due...sorry it happened to you.

in regards to being overdrafted, I consider having my bank account cleared being overdrafted.  In this case, there were no fees but if I had $10.00 less in my account I would have.  Also if I had already paid the other bill I would have been.

BTW, the economy is rough and although my new job pays better than my old job, customer service jobs aren't exactly the best paying positions.  Being a single mom who works full-time and goes to school full-time compounds it.

I am glad that you have not had problems with your service, but please do not make assumptions.  As a matter of fact since I had all my services bundled, the bill was closer to $200.  Also, I clearly said that I had planned on paying it two weeks later with a payment arrangement.  I did not overdraft, rather I had a more pressing bill that needed to be paid first.  I'm glad that you have ample money to be able to not have to shuffle around funds, but everyone is unique.  In my situation I had to take a couple of weeks off because of illness and my paycheck was lower than usual.  You many not have noticed the several hundred complaints lodged about the service, but I know they are on this site because I saw them.  Also, I would love to speak to the same helpful person all of the time, but I don't want to have to pay nearly twice as much for internet (as that is the real price difference) just to have a business account to do so.  My original complaint was that I received inconsistient or incorrect information and was basically made to feel like I was lying.  All I wanted is to have the correct information in the first place and when the issue was not resolved in the first place have a little empathy and problem solving.  Since service is the last line of defense in my situation, I felt the need to voice my complaint.  I hope that you never have a problem with your account, but if you do then I am certain you will understand why I was upset.

I came on here to see what kind of results would come up on CenturyLink since my Qwest service unwillingly merged, and they have very little negative feedback it appears. In this scenario, I have to side with the employee. Looks like probably replied to you on his/her time off to try to assist a situation.

The problem was she was given different answers by multiple people. The solution the "employee" gave was to try to talk to the same helpful person so the answer doesn't change and is consistently productive.

Knowing that you get more with honey than vinegar is different than acting upon it. Willingness to be helped has been beneficial to me when dealing with the phone company. I suppose 12 years in customer service and can't pay a $30 internet bill without over drafting does paint an insightful back-story though.

I was a representative, past tense as I left when I saw the values of the company crumbling at a swift rate.  I found a new job and gave my notice without regret.  I had planned on keeping the service because I like my internet speed, but didn't want to keep my phone so went to standalone.  I did not have to keep AutoPay as I no longer was going to be given the discount given to employees (since you must have a phone to keep that).  I do not expect perfection in every person I speak with, but I do expect 1. To be treated like a human 2. To be told correct information and 3. Not to be made to feel like it is my fault that CenturyLink reps errored.  If I had 1 out of 4 interactions be displeasing with 3 of them keeping their promise and giving me correct information I would have a different opinion.  The fact is I had 3 out of 4 poor interactions and 1 that was barely tolerable.  I am polite, and after working in service for over 12 years, I know that you get more flies with honey than with vinegar.

Your attitude does not exactly show goodwill towards the customer, which means I probably wouldn't want you as a dedicated rep in the first place.  FYI, when someone has a legitimate complaint, instead of up-selling them to something more expensive, how about showing some empathy and offering actual assistance?  I held no ill-will towards the corporation, the benefits, pay, and commission were great.  I just disagreed with the direction management was taking so I found a different job with a company whose values I believed in.  The problem is when management's business ethics move southward, so do the ethics and satisfaction of the employees.  This in turn plays out in the interactions those employees have with customers.

Just trying to gather facts. Objective picture: Century Link=Deceitful, Representatives =Liars, You=Representative, You and I=?. I am not in sales, nor have any line of work which has an independent monetary quota. If that's true, two liars may not have an honest resolution, but one can sure try.

I frequently handle escalations after they've been declined by a few middle tiers of management and the same truth exists on all of them. Those situations 100% of the time involve a client telling us what solution is acceptable rather than working on an agreeable solution which can be done within the parameters of regulations and real life.

For example, a charge hits the account and shouldn't have. Requesting money back now, translates into 2 days minimum as mandated by every bank. I've seen friendly demeanors go a long way to allow bill compensation, plus recompensation of overdraft fees and bill adjustments to compensate for the issues. Just have to work within the parameters that every other utility company has when it comes to compensation as those regulations are set down by the Federal Reserve and the local PUC.

Reading the "legal-ese" in such regulations can cause an a aneurysm, but never the less, they are unfortunately still there. I've worked in residential, business, middle management and above and all tiers have to follow the same guidelines. I wish every rep we have could be a cookie-cutter meme of perfection, but thats not possible. So sometimes it can be better trying to get a dedicated rep, but unfortunately is only achievable with service changed to business class.

Did you just seriously attempt to up-sell me to a business line after my complaint about my service?  Why would I want to pay 30% more for service when I can't stand it?  I worked for this company for nearly two years and can tell you firsthand that not all the residental services are sourced out of the Phillipines.  Actually only the front line tech services are, and I do not have any problem with the tech services.  My problem is the lying and lack of record-keeping that is required with each call.  I commend you for your creative ways of trying to pad your sales, but you are completely out of line.  Get your facts straight before trying to create an image that is not entirely true.  Just another example of the lies and decietful tactics of this company.  I quit when I was forced to not honor a NOTATED promise of an ETF waiver amongst other dishonest practices.  It was at that moment that I realized the company had flushed its morals down the toilet and weren't even going to try and get them back.  Amazing.

One suggestion to perhaps bypass the outsourced departments related to service is get a business class connection.

The business department can be reached at 800-603-6000. I started as a residential rep and there is a bunch of turn-over compared to the business department. So chances are if the service is changed over to business you have a higher chance of reaching a knowledgable representative.

The downside: Business service can typically cost 30% more due to the fact there is more knowledgable reps as an average and dedicated tech support. I would say around 10% of residential reps have been with the company more than 5 years and around 90% of business reps have been with the company more than 5 years.

Also, internet tech support is based out of Phoenix for business and out of the Philipines for residential. Could be worth a shot